Building block and assembly thereof



May 9, 1939. L c M H 2,157,992

. BUILDING BLOCK AND ASSEMBLY THEREOF Filed Dec. 16, 1936 I 2Sheets-Sheet l tazzzm afzzf/ May 9, 1939. I c sMlTH 2,157,992

BUILDING BLOCK AND ASSEMBLY THEREOF Filed Dec. 16, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2I Z Z i7 463 q Aw /o 47 V0 5 Zfl 2/ 02%fi %%Wjfl Patented May 9, 1939UNITED QFFICE Leonard C. Smith,

East Chicago, Ind.

Application December 16, 1936, Serial No. 116,047

8 Claims.

My invention relates to building blocks such as are usually made ofconcrete or similar material and refers more particularly to moldedblocks of the type adapted to be used in the construction of walls andpartitions having air spaces therein.

In building construction it is important to minimize the conductivity ofheat and moisture through the walls, this being preferably accom- 10plished by providing dead air spaces between inner and outer portions ofthe wall. It is essential, however, that the inner and outer portions ofthe wall be united through the intervening air spaces to assure adequatestructural strength and without providing avenues for heat or moistureconductivity between the inner and outer wall portions which wouldappreciably impair the efiectiveness of the insulating air spacetherebetween, and this has not been accomplished satisfactorilyheretofore in walls made up of building blocks as the prevailingpractice is to construct such blocks with openings which are cored outbetween the inner and outer portions of the block, so as to leaveconnecting webs through which heat and moisture are quite readilycommunicable from the outer face to the inner face of the block.

The principal objects of my invention are to provide building blocks ofan improved form for making hollow walls which are effectively insulatedagainst communication of heat or moisture therethrough; to provide asimple form of block which is easily manufactured and with a minimum ofmaterial; to utilize separate blocks for the inner and outer portions ofthe hollow wall; to interlock the inner and outer blocks and in a mannerto eliminate any appreciable communication of heat or moisture throughthe wall; to interlock the blocks at the outer side of the wall, andlikewise the blocks at the inner side thereof, by the same means whichinterlock the blocks of one side with the blocks of the other side; toutilize the interlocking means not only to assure accurate spacing ofthe blocks at one side of the wall from the blocks at the other side ofthe wall but also to facilitate and insure accurate alignment of theblocks at each side of the wall; to avoid direct connection betweenopposed inner and outer blocks by arranging the interlocking betweencourses in such a manner that the blocks of each course or tier ateither side of the air space is interlocked with the courses or tiers ofblocks thereabove and therebelow at the opposite side rather than withthe course or tier directly opposite; and to provide chases which willaccommodate vertical and hori- Zontal pipes in the wall as well aspermit utilization of selected portions of the air space for air ducts,or for vertical or horizontal filling, re- 5 inforcing and floorconnections; these and other objects being accomplished as pointed outhereinafter and as shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a perspective view, with portions cut away, of twointersecting walls made up of building blocks constructed in accordancewith my invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective View of my building block showing the inner sidethereof; 15

Fig. 3 is a similar view of a modified form of my building block;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a special end block;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a special filler block;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged vertical section of a portion of the wallstructure of Fig. 1 taken on the line 6-5 of Fig. 1, but showingconnections for a floor which is omitted in Fig. 1;

Fig. '7 is a vertical transverse section of the wall of Fig. 6 showing afloor connected therewith; and

Fig. 8 is a horizontal section on the line 88 of Fig. '2.

Referring to the drawings, the reference numeral it! indicates as awhole the standard form in which I prefer to construct my block, asdistinguished from special forms which may be required for wall ends,corners and other purposes, said standard block it consisting of arectangular panel portion l l having a lateral extension 52 at each end,both extensions being preferably notched at their outer ends asindicated at It so that each of said lateral extensions !2 terminates inspaced upper and lower lugs 14. These lateral extensions ii are of thesame width as or vertically commensurate with the panel portion l l fthe block, and each extension [2 is provided with two semi-circulargrooves l5 in the top and bottom edge faces respectively thereof, thegrooves 55 at the top being in alignment as are also the grooves 55 atthe bottom and all of the grooves l5 being equallydistant from the plane50 of the outer face of the panel il, all as shown particularly in Fig.2 which illustrates my preferred standard form of block. Preferably alsoeach notch it is formed with grooves It in the opposite side walls forinterlocking engagement 55 with a filler member which may be used withthe standard form of block to close off selected areas of the air spacewithin the wall to provide air ducts, pier molds and the like as will bemore fully explained hereinafter.

In assembling a wall therefrom these blocks I0 are laid up in successivesuperposed courses with cement or mortar between the ends of adjoiningblocks and between the superposed courses thereof, each courseconsisting of two opposed rows of blocks IB which are arranged end toendin staggered relation with the lateral extensions I2 of the adjoiningblocks of each row in side by side relation and projecting inwardlytoward the center of a block it at the opposite sideof the .wall, butterminating at a distance therefrom, the rela- 'tive location of the twoopposed rows of blocks I0, as shown in Fig. 1, beingSU-Ch that the outerends of each adjoining pair of extensions -I2 at the contiguous ends ofadjoining blocks :Iflextend under and support the inner ends of a pairof extensions I2 of'adjcining blocks at the opposite side of the wall inthe nextsucceeding course with the top grooves if; of the supportingextensions 12 in matching relation with the bottom grooves I5 of thesupported extensions, to accommodate at the top and bottom of eachcourse, rods I! which insure proper alignment of the blocks of each rowand proper spacing thereof from the opposite row of blocks and interlockthe blocks of the two rows. These rods seat only to a depth ofapproximately one-half their thickness in the grooves I5 so-that as eachcourse is laid and the rod i1 placed in the top grooves I 5 thereof,approximately onehalf of the rod projects above the top surfaces of theblocks, and by fitting the bottom grooves I5 of the next succeedingcourse of blocks thereon accurate location of such succeed-ing course ofblocks is facilitated and insured and an interlocking of the successivecourses is also provided.

Special blocks for corners, wall ends and other purposes may be providedto cooperate with the blocks It, as for example, there are shown in Fig.l inner and outer corner blocks I8 and I9 respectively for joining twowall sections at right angles to one another,'the former of which saidcorner blocks comprises a panel 23 with a lateral extension 2! at oneendin all respects like the extensions I2 of the standard blocks l0, andat the other end the panel 20 itself is formed with grooves 22 in thetop and bottom edge faces and with an end notch 23 like the grooves I5and notches I3 respectively of the extensions I2 of the standard blocks,the length of the panel 20 being such that when the lateral extension 2|thereof is located, as shown in Fig. 1, againstthe end of theappropriate standard block of an inside row of blocks ill of one of theangular wall sections the other end of the panel 20 is suitablypositioned within the other wall section to have the lateral extensionI2 of an'inside block of that wall section positioned thereagainst witha pair of the rods H of the latter section engaged in the grooves 22 ofthe panel 2G. The outside corner block it comprises long and short panelportions 24 and 25 arranged at right angles to one another and eachprovided at its outer end with a lateral extension 26 in all respectslike the extensions I2 of; the standard blocks, the length of the panelportions 26 and 25 being such that when located at the outside of thecorner as shown in Fig. 1 the extensions 26 thereof will fitrespectively agai st CQHESRQ QDI Q xt nsi ns 2. Qf s dar blocks I0 ofthe two angular sections of the wall. It is to be understood that ineach succeeding course the arrangement of the special blocks I8 and I9is reversed in the respect that in the courses immediately above andbelow the course in which the blocks I3 and I9 appear in Fig. l,

the block I8 is located as shown at 21 in Fig. l

with the lateral extension 2| thereof within the wall section at theright of the wall juncture of Fig. l and the other end of the panel 20projecting into the other wall section whereas the outside corner blockI9 in said courses above and below has the long panel portion 24 at theouter side of thewall section at the left of the wall juncture and theshort panel 25 thereof in the right wall section of the Fig. 1structure.

Fig. 4 shows .a special block 28 for wall ends which is half thelength-of a standard block I0 .andhas spaced lateral extensions 2d and30 both similar in all respects to the lateral extensions I2 of thestandard blocks Ill except that the extension 39 is not provided with anotch I3 and is set back from the end of the block which is formed atthat end with a thickened portion 3| having a central hump 32 at theinner side to fit in a notch I3 of a standard block. Obviously, onaccount of the staggered arrangement of the blocks in the inner andouter rows of each course the standard blocks of certain rows willterminate half way back from the ends of the blocks of other rows andthese special blocks 28 are employed as shown in Fig. 1 to continue outto the wall end those rows wherein the blocks terminate half way back asaforesaid, the formation 3I-32 of said special blocks serving, as shownin Fig. l, to fit the notched ends of the end extensions I2 of theblocks I I of the opposed row which extend to the end of the wall. Therods I! may extend to the wall end if desired but in cases where thewall end is at a window or door opening, it is preferred to terminatethe rods in the grooves of the lateral extension 36 of the half block 28to leave therebeyond openings which are unoccupied by the rods and maybe plugged or otherwise filled to receive nails or other fastenings forattaching the door or window frame to the wall end.

It will be observed that with the wall structure above described theblocks of opposed rows are entirely separated from one another except atthe wall ends, thereby providing an air space between the entire innerface of each standard block and the standard blocks opposed thereto, theonly connections between inner and outer standard blocks being at thetop and bottom faces of the with a waterproofing and heat insulatingcompo' sition, which may also, if desired, be applied to the entireinner surface of the blocks or waterproof cement with heat insulatingproperties may be employed, either of which alternatives alone or ifused together substantially prevents heat or moisture communication fromeither side of the wall to the other. Moreover increased heat insulationmay be obtained by filling the space between the inner and outerportions of the wall with insulation material, preferably in granular,nodular or other loose form in which it may readily be poured, and thefilling of this wall space is readily accomplished in view of the freelyintercommunicating arrangement of all portions thereof.

The notches l3, are not essential to free lateral intercommunicationthroughout the wall, since the extreme ends of the extensions |2 arespaced a substantial distance from the inner faces of the opposedblocks, but these notches not only increase the intercommunioationpassageways but also provide horizontally aligned openings, as indicatedparticularly at 33 in Fig. 7, throughout the Wall to accommodatehorizontal pipes for plumbing or electric work or for other purposes aswell as reinforcing rods that may be required, such piping being shownin Figs. 1, 6 and 7 with a vertical portion 34 installed between theinner and outer blocks of the wall and having a horizontal lead 35extending laterally therefrom through the openings 33 while reinforcingrods are shown at 36 and 31 extending through said openings 33.

The blocks composing the wall may be made of any desired material and inany desired manner, preferably being molded from a material such as acement composition and may be faced to provide any desired finish.Preferably, however, the blocks for the outside portions of walls are ofwaterproof concrete and the inner blocks may also be of the samematerial or if this is not necessary for load hearing or other purposes,the inner portion of the wall may be of cinder blocks or other lightweight or porous types which may be used for both sides of inside wallsunless inadequate for the loads that may be imposed thereon.

With this wall construction closed vertical chases may readily beprovided at any desired place or places by providing filler blocks forcontinuing selected extensions |2 to the opposite side of the wall, oneform of such filler block being shown at 38 which as indicated in Fig. 5is merely a small block of suitable length and thickness to provide acontinuation of a block extension I2 and has a central hump 39 to fit inthe notch I3 of a standard block I0, said hump 39 being provided atopposite sides with ribs 40 to fit in the side grooves l6 of the notchl3 of the standard blocks to hold the filler block 38 against lateraldisplacement.

In using this block to close off a selected air space of a widthcorresponding to the length of a standard block, blocks 38 are appliedto the ends of the extensions I2 of a block l0 at the selected location,as for example the block 4| of Fig. 1 which has filler blocks 38 at bothends thereof closing the space between said ends and the blocks at theother side of the wall, and said blocks are applied to the ends ofcorresponding blocks above and below the block 4| to the full length ofthe desired chase, it being understood that there are between suchcorresponding blocks intervening courses which have reversed blocks 42at the opposite side of the wall to the ends of the extensions |2 ofwhich filler blocks 38 are also applied to close the sides of the chasethrough the courses between which the blocks 4| are located. Thus aclosed chase may be provided of any desired length which may be used fora hot or cold air duct or for any other purpose, for example as a formin which to pour cement to form pier members such as shown at 43 to giveadded strength to the wall at selected locations for supporting loadbearing members thereon.

Instead of using filler blocks 38 with standard blocks I!) to providethe chases above mentioned, special blocks 44 may be provided which arethe same as the standard blocks i0 except that such special blocks 44have elongated lateral extensions 45 at the ends of sufficient length toclose the space between that block and the opposite side of the wall.These blocks may be substituted for the standard blocks H3 and fillerblocks 38 as indicated at 44 in Fig. l to provide vertical chases in thewall which may be used in like manner to provide hot or cold air ducts,pier forms or other purposes, the pier :33 being shown herein inassociation with such blocks 44 rather than the standard blocks l5 andfillers 38.

Horizontal beam members may also be readily provided at selectedelevations in the wall, as for example to provide reinforcement at thefloor supporting level, by closing off the bottom of a selected courseof blocks and filling the space therebetween with concrete. A strip 46of sisal kraft paper, for example, may be used for closing the bottom ofthe selected course, which after the course immediately below has beenlaid is placed over the top of that course and over the top rod I'ithereof as shown in Figs. 6 and 7 after which the next course is laidthereon and filled with concrete as shown at 47. This cement filler orbeam member 4? may be reinforced by reinforcing rods 35 and 31 in theopenings 33, the lower one 37 of which may rest on the bottoms of theopenings 33 while the upper one 36 may be held at the top of theopenings 33 in position for pouring by suspending same by wires 48 fromthe rod l'i immediately thereabove. Preferably if there are pier members43 in the wall extending up to the level of the beam member 4?, the rods3"! are bent as shown in Fig. 6 to provide portions 7 45 which extenddownwardly into the chase in which the pier member 43 is located and thesisal kraft paper 46 is omitted at the top of that chase as shown inFig. 6 so that the upper portion of the pier 43 may be poured at thesame time as the beam member 4? to provide a reinforced monolithicintersection of the beam 41 and pier 43.

Any desired form of floor may be built onto the assembled block wallstructure and at any selected level, an I-pan type of floor being shownin Fig. 7 wherein the inverted pans 53 are secured together in side byside relation in the usual manner with their ends projecting over theinner blocks of the course occupied by the filler 41 and after an outerblock course has been laid therearound, concrete is poured over the pans5|! as indicated at 5| to form the floor, this concrete being extendedoutwardly over the beam member 41' to, the outer course of blocks l3therearound to the same level as the floor as shown in Fig. 7. Blocks 52of half width or of other necessary width are then laid over the floor5| to match with and bring the inner portion of the wall up to the levelof the outer course around the fioor after which the wall is continuedupwardly thereon in the manner of assembling hereinbefore described.

While I have shown and described my invention in a preferred form, I amaware that various changes and modifications may be made therein withoutdeparting from the principles of my invention, the scope of which is tobe determined by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. The combination with a building block of the class described,comprising a relatively flat elongated panel having at one side thereofa corresponding lateral extension at each end, at least one of saidextensions having a notch in the end face thereof remote from the panelof an auxiliary member having a notch fitting portion for engagementwith the notched end of said extension. 7

2. The combination with a building block of the class described,comprising a relatively flat elongated panel having at one side thereofa corresponding lateral extension at each end, at least one of saidextensions having a notch in the end face thereof remote from the panelof an auxiliary member having a notch fitting portion for engagementwith the notched end of said extension, and means whereby the notchfitting portion of said auxiliary member is interlocked with saidextension against displacement laterally therefrom.

3. The combination with a building block of the class described,comprising a relatively flat elongated panel having at one side thereofa corresponding lateral extension at each end, at least one of saidextensions having a notch in the end face thereof remote from the panelof an auxiliary member having a notch fitting portion for engagementwith the notched end of said extension, said auxiliary member comprisinga panel with a pair of lateral extensions at one side thereof one ofwhich said extensions of the latter panel has the aforesaid notchfitting portion at the side thereof.

4. A wall structure of the class described, comprising opposed rows ofblocks at the opposite sides respectively of the wall, the blocks ofeach row being arranged in staggered relation to the blocks of theopposed row and having at each end thereof portions verticallycommensurate therewith which extend laterally therefrom toward theblocks of the opposite row, and insert members adapted to be interposedbetween ends of said laterally extending portions and the blocks of theopposed row and said ends of said portions and said insert membershaving an interlocking engagement with one another.

5. A wall structure of the class described, comprising blocks arrangedin courses each of which includes opposed rows of blocks at the innerand outer sides respectively of the wall wherein the blocks of each roware spaced throughout from and arranged in staggered relation to theblocks of the opposite row and means at the endsof selected blocksextending to the blocks opposed thereto for laterally closing a selectedportion of the space between the opposed rows of blocks to provide avertical chase within the wall.

6. A wall structure of the class described, comprising superposedcourses of blocks, each course including two opposed rows of blocks andthe blocks of each row having spaced upper and lower projections attheir ends which extend inwardly therefrom between projections of theblocks of the opposed row and between projections of the blocks aboveand below said opposed row, said projections being arranged to leave astraight opening through and extending lengthwise of the course betweenthe opposed blocks thereof, and a monolithic filler extending throughoutsaid straight opening and localized at an elevation spaced from the topand bottom of the wall structure.

7. A wall structure of the class described, comprising superposedcourses of blocks, each course including two opposed rows of blocks andthe blocks of each row having spaced upper and lower projections attheir ends which extend inwardly therefrom-between projections of theblocks of the opposed row and between projections of the blocks aboveand below said opposed row, said projections being arranged to leave astraight opening through and'extending lengthwise of the course betweenthe opposed blocks thereof, and a monolithic filler extending throughoutsaid straight opening and containing reinforcing members that arestraddled by the upper and lower projections of the opposed blocks ofsaid course.

8. A wall structure of the class described, comprising superposedcourses of blocks, each course including two opposed rows of blocks andthe blocks of each row having spaced upper and lower projections attheir ends which extend inwardly therefrom between projections of theblocks of the opposed row and between projections of the blocks aboveand below said opposed row, said projections being arranged to leave astraight opening through and extending lengthwise of the course betweenthe opposed blocksthereof, sheet material 'at the. bottom'of said courseand a monolithic filler on said sheet material and extending throughoutsaid straight opening.

LEONARD C. SMITH.

